Pre-modern, Modern and Post-modern Famine in Iraq

Famine conditions in Iraq since the 1990sThe UN Security Council imposed economic sanctions against Iraq in August 1990 in response to Iraq' s military invasion of Kuwait.The sanctions banned all trade with Iraq, virtually isolating its economy from the rest of the world.There was a limited lifeline through Jordan, but this was a mere trickle compared with Iraq' s historical dependence on foreign trade for its basic sustenance.Prior to the imposition of sanctions 60-85 per cent of Iraq' s food consumption used to be imported, and the export sector accounted for up to 90 per cent of the GDP.Tested against current standards of economic liberalisation, the Iraq of 1990 was not a marketfriendly economy: there were internal restrictions, state controls and a war-oriented command system.But at the same time, Iraq' s economy was not autarkic.It was highly dependent on international trade, and Iraq was ahead of the pack in terms of its interaction with global markets.An understanding of the impact of sanctions against Iraq, therefore, can provide a glimpse of what to expect from external shocks to a national economy within a globally integrating market system

Ancient history · Famine · Geography · Political science · Health and Conflict Studies · History · Law

• Famine Intensity and Magnitude Scales

  Open Access•Paul Howe, Stephen Devereux•Disasters•2004

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• Commodities and capabilities

  Amartya Sen•Commodities and capabilities•1985

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• Hunger and Public Action

  Open Access•Jean Drèze, Amartya Sen et al.•Hunger and Public Action (Wider…•1991

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• Hunger and poverty in Iraq, 1991

  Open Access•Jean Drèze, Haris Gazdar•World Development•1992

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